David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department examined visa requirements for students wishing to enter other countries with a substantial English language teaching sector in its recent revision of the Tier 4 points-based system.
David Lepper: I suspect that my hon. Friend will give us some more information about the number of workers employed on the scheme. Does he share my concern that possible redundancies of some of Network Rail's engineering staff could compromise not only the Thameslink programme, but important maintenance work in the whole Southern region?
David Lepper: Does my hon. Friend agree that First Capital Connect should have been swifter in coming forward with a compensation package for regular travellers on the line, and does he share my hope that even now it will widen the scope of that package?
David Lepper: I am proud to present a petition on behalf of 49 constituents in Brighton, Pavilion. Following is the full text of the petition: [ The Petition of persons resident in the Brighton Pavilion parliamentary constituency, Declares that they are concerned about the recommendations of the Badman Report, which suggests closer monitoring of home educators, including a compulsory annual registration...
David Lepper: I take the Minister's point that these matters are out for consultation. Unfortunately, the speed with which the review was announced and the lack of any background information accompanying that announcement have sent shockwaves through the sector. Many people, including the well over 100 representatives of host families in my constituency, are convinced that these are proposals. Greater...
David Lepper: I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this brief but important debate. Brighton and Hove has the full range, from English language schools to two universities, for which foreign students-overseas students-are essential. Has the hon. Gentleman, like me, had an opportunity to read the excellent submission to the review, prepared by English UK, which not only sets out the dangers to the...
David Lepper: I thank my hon. Friend for the support that the UK Government have given to the efforts to determine the whereabouts of people on both sides who have been missing since the Turkish invasion of 1974. Will he put additional pressure on the Turkish Government to reveal more information about the possible whereabouts of the remains of those missing people?
David Lepper: I declare an interest, which is in the Register of Members' Interests. Does my hon. Friend agree that the December assessment of Turkey's progress towards EU accession offers an excellent opportunity for the other guarantor power-the United Kingdom-to make it clearer exactly what it expects of Turkey on, for example, Famagusta and the ports?
David Lepper: I apologise to my right hon. Friend for missing the first part of his speech, but I was serving on a Statutory Instrument Committee with the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Mr. Campbell). My right hon. Friend talked about community activity. Does he recognise the important role that local action teams play at the neighbourhood level in bringing together local...
David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the number of Turkish troops based in the Turkish-occupied territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the Government has had with the Government of (a) the Republic of Cyprus, (b) Greece and (c) Turkey on the continuing role of the Guarantor Powers in the context of Cyprus's membership of the EU.
David Lepper: I present a petition- [Interruption.]
David Lepper: I present a petition on behalf of residents of Brighton and others. It is signed by Brenda Brown and 141 other residents of the Brighton area. The petition states: The Petition of residents of Brighton and others, Declares that the Government should fulfil its responsibilities as a high contracting party to the 4th Geneva Convention. The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons...
David Lepper: On a point of order, Mr. Cook. May I place on record my membership of the Sussex credit union before we proceed to a decision on this clause?
David Lepper: I believe that fees are set nationally under the Licensing Act, but under the usual regime the local authority can levy a charge for the application for a licence which covers the costs of the administration involved in consideration of that application. Would not universal reforms be cost-neutral?
David Lepper: Does not my hon. Friend think that the system as he has just outlined it could create anomalies? In neighbouring local authority areas, particularly within a conurbation, there could be one regime in place on one side of a borough border, and another on the other side. That is no way to help regulate lap-dancing clubs.
David Lepper: Mr. Speaker, may I add my tribute to those that have already been expressed? As the Foreign Secretary will know, one of the abiding problems in Cyprus is the issue of property rights and property ownership. In the light of April's European Court of Justice judgment on the case brought by Mr. Apostolides, will the Foreign Secretary consider, if he has not done so already, revising information...
David Lepper: I present a petition on behalf of Rebecca Rust, Andy Au and 31 members of the City Gate church in Brighton. The petition states: The Petition of members of City Gate Church, Brighton, Declares that almost every minute of every day a baby is born with HIV, and that almost all of these babies are born in the world's poorest countries; further declares that nine out of ten of all new HIV...
David Lepper: The hon. Gentleman mentioned the Rochdale principles, as did my hon.—and Co-operative—Friend the Member for Edmonton (Mr. Love). I welcome that, but I hope that they will note that those principles grew out of the work of Dr. William King and his newspaper, "The Co-operator", which was published in Brighton from the late 1820s onwards, and that the Brighton co-operative movement predates...
David Lepper: Does my hon. Friend agree that the co-operative movement generally, and the Co-operative bank in particular, was a decisive factor in the lobbying among the public that led to the Climate Change Act 2008?
